Eriksson seeks solution

SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON insisted that he was fighting to "defend English football" as he held the first of series of meetings with leading managers in an attempt to bridge the divide between club and country.

SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON insisted that he was fighting to "defend English football" as he held the first of series of meetings with leading managers in an attempt to bridge the divide between club and country.

Eriksson held two hours of talks with five Premiership managers - Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Peter Reid, Sir Bobby Robson and Alan Curbishley - at a central London hotel yesterday afternoon.

He will sit down again with Arsene Wenger, Gerard Houllier, Steve McClaren and Gordon Strachan today, with a third meeting planned later in the season with other leading bosses.

Eriksson still needs to decide upon individual cases, such as Moyes' call for Wayne Rooney to be rested instead of travelling with England to their post-season friendly in South Africa.

Eriksson will consider the request over the next couple of weeks, although it does seem likely that David Beckham will travel to the game even though he is suspended for the ensuing qualifying game on June 11.

The England coach's over-riding concern, however, was to ensure that a level of under-standing is reached between himself and the leading managers as they both want to protect players against burn-out amid so many games.

He has attempted to relieve the strain on players by making mass substitutions and not organising so many friendlies, but has come under fire from FIFA president Sepp Blatter for the "farce" of playing a different line-up in each half against Australia.

Having been a club manager, Eriksson realises the inherently different priorities which exist, with issues having arisen over not only Rooney's availability, but also that of other players, such as Paul Scholes.

No firm conclusions were reached after only the first meeting, although a 'statement of intent' will eventually be published when all the get-togethers have been concluded next month.

The Swede nevertheless believes that progress had been made in finding some common ground between himself and bosses.

"It can only be a good thing that people from the clubs and people from the FA sit down to talk about the fixtures that we have in our game," Eriksson told the FA's website, www.theFA.com.

"We have to find a solution that is good for the clubs and good for the national team. We need to look to the future and agree. What do we want to do with friendly games for example?

"The fixture list is always a big problem in England because of the amount of games but we will try and find a solution together.